PLD vendor releases open IP core soft MCUProduct News 7/29/2005 Post a commentIn a move to drive user development of its new 8-bit soft microcontroller core, Lattice Corp. is offering an open IP core license that eliminates the boundaries found in free reference designs that restricts the use of IP.

Flash-based FPGA to integrate analog functionsProduct News 7/27/2005 Post a commentIn the next six to nine months, Actel Corp. will unveil products that employ its latest technology called Fusion, which combines mixed-signal analog capabilities with flash memory and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) fabric in a monolithic programmable system chip (PSC).

Cypress falls short on profit expectationsNews & Analysis 7/21/2005 Post a commentSemiconductor supplier Cypress Semiconductor Corp. reported a second-quarter net loss of $15.3 million, or 12 cents per share on sales of $220.5 million, compared to earnings of $21.9 million, or 18 cents per share on sales of $264.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

New utility accelerates Virtex-4 FPGA speeds by 26%Product News 7/13/2005 Post a commentTo help designers benchmark and maximize the performance benefits of Virtex-4 and Spartan-3 field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), Xilinx Inc. is offering the Xplorer utility that when used with RTL level retiming with the company's ISE software claims it can improve Virtex-4 device performance by 26%.

Low-cost programmable SoC integrates full-speed USB portProduct News 7/13/2005 Post a commentCypress Semiconductor Corp. has introduced an enhanced version of its programmable system-on-chip PSoC. In its latest PSoC, the CY8C24794-24LFXI, Cypress has included a full-featured, full-speed USB port. The new device is available for less than $2 each in volume.

DACVariations on a ThemeDesign How-To 7/6/2005 Post a commentElectronic conferences seem to be of two varietiesthose that introduce innovative products and methodologies and others that enhance existing solutions. The 42nd DAC fits into the second category. Building upon an existing base of design tools and products is not a bad thing. Improving upon what has been previously introduced marks the point at which those products become usable for the mainstream electronics community. Jim Lipman addresses some of the hot topics that garnered a lot of at